Japanese restaurant are indeed pretty heavy on proteins and don’t serve a lot of vegetables ( except rice), but the ingredients in meals are much less processed ( chicken look like chicken, and meat like meat), and probably contains less additives. Another big difference is also quantities ( largest japan size = smallest US size) and sweet. And then home-made family style japaneese meals are also very different from restaurants, with a lot more vegetables.

I went to new york a long time ago, but i believe you’re right in that it’s probably one of the few places where you can eat correctly for a normal price in the US.